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Coursework Front Sheet

Module Title: Contemporary Management

Research

Date: 10th May 2015

Word Count: 3666

Coursework Title: The Glass Ceiling Student: Anastasia Pahl

Table  of  contents  

1. Introduction ......................................................................................................... 2  

2. Glass Ceiling Definition and Discussion ............................................................ 2  

3. Experienced Issues of Glass Ceiling ................................................................... 3  

4. Measures ............................................................................................................. 8  

5. Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 12  

6. Bibliography ...................................................................................................... 14  

1. Introduction

Since the 1970s, there has been a growing number of women in the labour force.

A study by Powell and Graves (Powell & Graves, 2003) indicates that the

proportion of women in the managerial ranks has increased in almost all

countries. Women are demanding greater equality in the work environment. One

of the main factors that needs to be considered in order to achieve equality in the

work environment is gender differences. Gender differences and the mutual

perceptions between men and women may vary across countries and their diverse

cultures. Furthermore, contributing aspects such as education, government

policies, media images, and opinion leaders can re-alter/influence gender

differences and levels. (Domvski, Škerlavaj, & Man, 2010)

In this essay I will first show which impact glass ceiling still has on our global

economy, focussing mainly on gender discrimination. Furthermore, I will

compare different cultures, such as the Asian, African, European and American,

explaining the issues those markets are facing. Finally I will discuss different

measures that already have been taken to prevent glass ceiling.

2. Glass Ceiling Definition and Discussion

Definition: The glass ceiling, a phrase first introduced in the 1980s, is a metaphor

for the invisible and artificial barriers that block women and minorities from

advancing up the corporate ladder to management and executive positions. In

1991 the US Congress found that, despite a dramatically growing presence in the

workplace, women and minorities remained underrepresented in management

positions in business and that artificial barriers were inhibiting their advancement.

(Johns, 2013)

Traditionally, the glass ceiling was a concept applied to women and some

minorities. It was very hard, if not impossible, for them to reach upper

management positions, no matter how qualified or experienced.

Today, there are many more women and minorities in powerful positions.

However, the glass ceiling is still very real. And it's not always limited to gender

or race. (Mind Tools, 2015) Women and minorities make up two-thirds of the

population and 57% of the workforce yet account for only 3% of senior

management positions at Fortune 1000 industrial corporations, according to a

report released by the bipartisan Federal Glass Ceiling Commission. (Federal

Glass Ceiling Commission, 1995) The findings suggest that although some

progress has been made in recent years, proactive efforts are still needed to

address the invisible but impenetrable barrier that continues to deprive women

and minorities of access to the highest levels of the business world regardless of

their accomplishments or merit. (Civil Rights Monitor, 1995)

So how general is the phenomenon of females rising to the top? Despite the

progress that has been made, it sometimes seems like only superwomen break

through the glass ceiling. In some sectors of the economy, such as manufacturing

and finance, male-dominated executive suites are still very much the norm.

(Cassidy, 2014) Just as the overall labour market remains sharply segregated by

sex, women executives are concentrated into certain types of jobs - mostly staff

and support jobs - that offer little opportunity for getting to the top. A 1986 Wall

Street Journal survey found that the highest ranking of women in most industries

are in non-operating areas such as personnel, public relations, or, occasionally,

finance specialties that seldom lead to the most powerful top-management posts.

(Feminist Majority Foundation, 2014)

3. Experienced Issues of Glass Ceiling

When you think about women having problems to become a top officer in a

management field, it is not all about their work-life balance. While economic

research and previous survey findings have shown that career interruptions related

to motherhood may make it harder for women to advance in their careers and

compete for top executive jobs, relatively few adults in the new Pew Research

survey point to this as a key barrier for women seeking leadership roles. Only

about one-in-five say women’s family responsibilities are a major reason there are

not more females in top leadership positions in business and politics. (Pew

Research Center, 2015) The Pew study shows that attitudes are slowly changing

but that hurdles to parity and fairness still exist. According to the survey, women

are far more likely than men to see gender discrimination in today’s society.

Additionally women and men are seen as equally good business leaders, but

gender stereotypes still persist. (Watson, 2015)

The report entitled "Good For Business: Making Full Use of the Nation's Human

Capital" (Federal Glass Ceiling Commission, 1995) is the result of three years of

study that included a consortium of consultants, commission hearings, studies,

interviews, focus groups, panel discussions, and review of public and private

research. The report identified three levels of barriers that need to be eliminated to

allow women and minorities to gain equal access to executive suites. They are

societal barriers, which may be outside the direct control of business, internal

structural barriers that are within the direct control of business, and governmental

barriers. (Civil Rights Monitor, 1995)

The two societal barriers noted include the ‘supply barrier’ and the ‘difference

barrier’. The supply barrier refers to the lack of qualified women and minorities

because of inequities in the nation’s educational system. The report notes that

although corporations cannot lead a movement to reform the nation’s schools,

they can be strong advocates for excellent schools by participating in initiatives

such as school-to-work and internships as well as providing scholarships. (Civil

Rights Monitor, 1995)

Entry to equal opportunities in leadership begins with access to education and the

acquisition of the right qualifications. The biggest reported threat posed to the

advancement of women to positions of executive leadership in South Africa is a

lack of access to quality high school and tertiary education. (Davidson & Burke,

2011)

The difference barrier refers to the stereotypes, prejudices, and biases that

individuals harbour about cultural, gender, or racial differences. The report states

that of all the barriers to corporate advancement identified, it is prejudice that tops

the list. (Civil Rights Monitor, 1995)

Faced with women´s under-representation in leadership, many reach for the

explanation that women willingly choose to hold themselves back, ignoring

structural barriers to women´s advancement. A recent report found that women

hold only 23% of senior-management roles in Singapore, the lowest percentage in

Asia. Only 7.9% of directors of Singapore exchange-listed companies are women,

leaving them behind their neighbours Malaysia, Indonesia and comparable

economies as Hong Kong. In a recent survey by Robert Half, 71% of human

resource managers in medium-sized firms in Singapore cited “societal perceptions

of women” as holding women back. 43% at large firms perceived a “lack of

promotional opportunities for women”. (Robert Half, 2009) (Tan, 2014)

Similarly, an Opportunity Now UK survey found that a third of their women

respondents believed they were discriminated against at the point of promotion.

The obstacles were greater for older women and those from ethnic minorities –

49% of women from ethnic minorities cited direct discrimination. More than half

the 1000 women surveyed thought they had to put their career before family to

win promotion in their organization. (Davidson & Burke, 2011)

In an Aware survey of 1,322 people, 58% of male respondents thought that

women should take care of household chores and caregiving, compared to 47% of

female respondents. A woman who does not desire this responsibility may have

little alternative if her male partner is uncooperative, especially if general societal

expectations support him in his position. (Tan, 2014)

The internal business barriers concern the difference between what corporate

leadership says it wants to happen and what is actually happening. The underlying

cause of this discrepancy stems from the perception of many white males that they

are losing the corporate game, control and opportunity. Many middle- and upper-

level white male managers view the inclusion of minorities and women in

management as a direct threat to their own chances for advancement. Internal

structural barriers, such as recruitment policies and the corporate climate, further

contribute to the persistence of the glass ceiling. The report states that many

executives hire only people who are most like themselves culturally and ethnically

and are not willing as they see it "to risk" hiring minorities unless their clients

demand increases in minority hiring. (Civil Rights Monitor, 1995) (Cotter,

Hermsen, Ovadia, & Vanneman, 2001)

The entire concept of an employee with no need for work-life balance rides on the

hidden assumption that the employee can offload domestic responsibilities onto

someone else – an arrangement usually available only to men, at the expense of

women. These barriers to economic participation have detrimental consequences

on women’s welfare in Singapore and worldwide. According to the Ministry of

Manpower, 43% of women who are economically inactive cite domestic

responsibilities as the main reason; the figure is 1.8% for men.

As a result, women in general retire with significantly less CPF savings than men,

leading to greater dependence on others to meet their daily and health-care

expenses. (Tan, 2014)

Government barriers that affect the glass ceiling include the lack of vigorous and

consistent monitoring and law enforcement; weaknesses in the collection and

disaggregation of employment-related data; and inadequate reporting and

dissemination of information relevant to glass ceiling issues. Research presented

to the Commission clearly demonstrates the weakness of relying on voluntary

measures to address employment discrimination. (Civil Rights Monitor, 1995)

The US approach to federal paid parental leave is in stark contrast to peer country

members in the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development

(OECD), where the average length of job-projected leave for new parents is

eighteen weeks, compared to the United States’ twelve weeks. Beginning in

January 2011, the United States was the only OECD nation with no required paid

parental leave. (Johns, 2013)

While the work environment in South Africa is highly regulated by legislation,

leading to greater equity in the workplace, most corporate organizations claim to

have eliminated discrimination by changing their educational parity and social

attitudes towards women (Davidson & Burke, 2011)

According to a survey by the White House Project (The White House Project,

2009), fully 73% of employees in the US non-profit sector are women. Yet, by all

accounts, women have not yet reached parity in terms of leadership positions or

pay. (Watson, 2015) Women want to work in the non-profit sector and are

successful in doing so. They are willing to put in the hard work and make

sacrifices to support a cause. Why are these women, who have the passion and

drive to work for non-profit’s, not receiving the same pay as their male

counterparts?

They may have the same skills and qualifications as males but female CEOs only

earn about 66% of male salaries. This is only the case for 45% of chief executive

within the sector. However, women are more likely to become CEOs of smaller

non-profits than larger ones. (Mondo, 2012)

”The social sector has a long way to go to meet gender equity in executive

compensation,” said Guidestar research chief Chuck McLean last fall, when the

organization released its annual report on non-profit compensation. Guidestar

found that women who are non-profit chief executives made 11% less on average

at organizations with budgets of $250,000 and 23% less at organizations with

budgets between $25 million and $50 million. Further, the raw numbers are also

troubling: when budgets are small, women make up the majority of executive

directors and CEOs. As the budgets increase, the number of women in charge

decreases; just 17% of non-profit’s with budgets of more than $50 million had

female leaders. (Watson, 2015)

However, the public does not see major differences between men and women on

key business leadership qualities. Where they do see gaps, women have a clear

advantage over men on honesty and ethics, providing fair pay and benefits, and

offering mentorship to young employees. Men have an edge when it comes to

being willing to take risks and negotiating profitable deals. (Watson, 2015)

4. Measures

There are several initiatives, programs and surveys that have been established and

analyzed by companies and governments over the last years to support women not

only to become more successful in the business world but also to make their lives

easier.

While there is no doubt that unconscious bias, and even outright misogyny, still

exist in workplaces today, the bigger barrier holding women back from growing

their influence is sometimes not a “glass ceiling” but a “glass cage” of their own

making. This cage is held together by the misgivings they have about their ability

to succeed and handle the demands of leadership without sacrificing their other

aspirations outside the workplace. (Warrell, 2013) Lao Tsu wrote, “People are

capable of more than they think.” Women have to think bigger before they can be

bigger. Too often though women set their sights too low, aiming only for what

they assess they have got a solid chance at achieving, rather than what truly

excites them. Likewise, the goals that inspire are usually one’s people are innately

predisposed to accomplish. While unleashing a new level of ambition can be

daunting, it can also set someone on a whole new trajectory that, over time,

reveals new possibilities and hidden strengths and opportunities that would never

otherwise be seen.

British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once said, ‘You can’t lead from the

crowd.’ Women have to see themselves as leader before anyone else will.

Moreover they have to be willing to build their own unique brand of leadership,

even if at times that has them standing apart from the crowd. (Warrell, 2013)

Government has many tools at its disposal to addresses current barriers in the

workplace that hold women back. The government can act as a catalyst for

promoting gender equality perspectives and practices by heightening awareness of

gender inequality, the benefits of gender equality, and the adverse impacts of

gender inequity on women, children, families, communities, the business sector,

and the nation as a whole. Governmental policy and legislation can dismantle

discriminatory practices and artificial barriers, and programs and projects can

further the understanding of the best interventions for breaking down barriers. In

addition, monitoring and enforcement of existing legislation against gender

discrimination must be real in order to break down barriers that hold women back.

(Johns, 2013) (Federal Glass Ceiling Commission, 1995)

Non-profit organizations are not as intimidating as their for-profit counterparts.

There is a more pleasant work environment and people may enjoy going to work

more. The non-profit sector also allows for greater flexibility of work hours and

more part-time availability. It appeals to women’s feelings and emotions while

allowing them more time to fit into their schedules.

The non-profit sector needs to change and diversify itself. More women need to

be represented in the top leadership positions of non-profit organizations and

more men need to get involved. Women need to be recognized for their talents

and hard work in order to obtain these top leadership positions. The world is

changing and women continue to play an active role in non-profit organizations.

The non-profit sector also needs to reduce the salary gap.

Women need to become better negotiators, take credit for their success and

demand a better salary. The non-profit sector continues to grow and with the

combined efforts of men and women, it can be stronger than ever. (Mondo, 2012)

Asia has a collectivists culture; conversation around families loom larger than in

the West. When it comes to choices women have to make, they also have to think

about how they approach promotions and long-term career prospects. Extended

families and the diameter of that circle of an Asian family is also much larger than

in the West. It is not just about child care anymore, but also elder care issues that

apply to these regions. Therefore organizations have to play their part as well as

women have to. However, women should try to stay authentically. As soon as

they start to lean themselves against men aggressively, they may adopt a wrong

leadership style, that is not accepted by their culture. (BBC, 2013) Women are

associated with “feminine” characteristics like caring, nurturing and sharing.

Gender role stereotypes have a major impact not only on selection but also on

promotion and evaluation of managerial performance. (Davidson & Burke, 2011)

Therefore different leadership styles may not always mash well with a region as it

brings difference to authority. (BBC, 2013)

Women moving millions is composed of women and a few men whose mission is

to strengthen the women’s movement by inviting women into their power, raising

their voices through their resources, and strengthening and extending their vision

through their values and actions. The American organization believes that women

and girls are the best investment towards creating healthy societies, economic

growth, and global stabilization. Women Moving Millions is committed to funding

systemic change and building a peaceful and equitable world. (Women Moving

Millions, 2015)

Similarly, AWARE is Singapore’s leading non-profit gender equality advocacy

group, dedicated to removing gender-based barriers.

It provides a feminist perspective in the national dialogue by effectively

advocating against laws, public policies and mind-sets that discriminate against

women. Furthermore the AWARE Training Institute (ATI) develops and provides

training to empower women to achieve independence. ATI also provides

educational programs to organizations and the public on issues that affect women.

(Aware, 2015)

In 2007, Gap Inc. created PACE http://www.bewhatspossible.com/pace , the

Personal Advancement & Career Enhancement program, which teaches women

both life skills and technical skills over an 8-10 month period. Participants learn

communication strategies, problem solving, decision- making, financial literacy

and gender equality, as well as specific skill sets that help to improve their career

prospects at the factories where they work. Since its inception, PACE has

educated more than 25,000 female garment workers. Women workers in

Cambodia who went through the program were promoted three times faster than

peers at the same factory who did not participate; 49% of participants reported

higher levels of self-esteem and confidence. In India the number of participants

who said they were able to save more money increased by 69%. (Women Moving

Millions, 2015)

Commissioned by Dell, the Gender-GEDI (Global Entrepreneurship and

Development Instute; Dell, 2013) is the world’s only diagnostic tool that

comprehensively measures high potential female entrepreneurship by analyzing

entrepreneurial ecosystems, business environments and individual aspirations

across 30 developed and developing economies spanning multiple regions,

providing a systematic approach that allows cross-country comparison,

benchmarking, and identifies data gaps. The goal of the research is not to provide

a headcount of female entrepreneurs worldwide, rather it is future- oriented and

designed to be a tool to guide leaders, policymakers and law- makers in

identifying country-wide strengths and weaknesses and developing strategies to

create more favorable conditions in their countries to enable businesses founded

by women to thrive. (Women Moving Millions, 2015)

Investing in women and girls is one of the highest return opportunities available in

the developing world, as a wide range of economic research shows. (Goldman

Sachs, 2014) Goldman’s own work has demonstrated that bringing more women

into the labor force can significantly boost per capita income and GDP growth.

Their research has also shown that women’s higher propensity to use their

earnings and increased bargaining power to buy goods and services that improve

family welfare can create a virtuous cycle: female spending supports the

development of human capital, which fuels economic growth in the years ahead.

Given these significant benefits, they look at the role of women-owned small- and

medium- sized enterprises (SMEs) in raising labor force participation and

boosting economic growth in emerging markets. (Women Moving Millions, 2015)

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich laid out the company’s plan to change the future of

technology. Over the next five years, Intel plans to invest $300 million in

something called the "diversity in technology initiative," which will aim to bring

the company’s workforce to full representation by 2020. Just 24% of Intel’s

workforce is female. The CEO said that it is not just good enough to say Intel

values diversity and then has its workplaces and industry not reflect the full

availability and talent pool of women and underrepresented minorities. Intel will

home in on high-skills minorities who will graduate in the next half decade, like

high school AP students and collegians headed toward engineering. By focusing

on the imminent college graduates, Intel could change its demographics of its

workforce fairly quickly.

However, Intel’s short timeline runs the risk of encouraging the hasty adoption of

strategies that lack sustainable infrastructure. Female graduates who come to a

tech-industry like Intel without a full computer-science background need strong

advisers and training programs. (McCorvey, 2015)

Comprehensive, organization-specific programs that address breaking down

structural, organizational, and cultural barriers are essential. This includes setting

voluntary targets for female representation on boards, executive committees, and

senior management and engaging in active outreach and recruitment of women.

To overcome structural barriers, employers need to establish flexible work

arrangements and work-life balance policies, and create effective pipelines that

identify, develop, and promote women. Creation of mentoring programs within

organizations is an important avenue for helping women move up the career

ladder. Such programs should identify successful leaders of both sexes to serve as

mentors to raise women's aspirations and to identify goals and pathways that

move their careers forward. (Johns, 2013) (McKinsey & Company, 2012)

Intel should use some of the funding to create mentorship programs for those who

come from underrepresented backgrounds or are recruited through atypical

channels. (Federal Glass Ceiling Commission, 1995) (McCorvey, 2015)

5. Conclusion

The last decade has witnessed a growing awareness of the value women bring to

the workplace, the impact they make on organizational bottom line, and the

contribution to the economy at large. It has driven policy makers and industry

leaders to support women’s engagement in the workforce, and ascension into

positions of greater influence. (Warrell, 2013) Companies of the western countries

have already started to realize that they need to scope the jobs, they are offering,

to women. They have to concentrate on women´s desires as individuals. (BBC,

2013)

It is essential for our world to change in a direction where glass ceiling is no

longer an issue. However, there is still a long way to go until this problem can be

considered as solved.

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